Francis Ouimet won the U.S. Open in 1913 on the same golf course where he grew up caddying. As a 20-year-old amateur, and an American, Ouimet changed the way the world looked at the sport. His victory launched an American fascination with it that would forever change the golfing landscape. Unfortunately, “The Greatest Game Ever Played” does not quite get that point across to its viewers.

In “Greatest Game,” director Bill Paxton and screenwriter Mark Frost focus more on Ouimet (Shia LeBeouf) and his main opponents, British pros Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane) and Ted Ray (Stephen Marcus), than on the importance of their match. Paxton and Frost concentrate on who these people were rather than what they did. By doing this, the significance of Ouimet’s victory is lost and replaced with a feel-good story. This is not a bad thing, but it does suck out any form of suspense. When this is combined with the fact that all three characters are extremely likable, the 18-hole playoff between the three feels more like an afternoon golf outing with buddies than a decisive round of the U.S. Open.

This forces the audience to question: “Why on earth does this match even matter and who do we cheer for?”

The film wants the audience to root for Ouimet, but does not give a good enough reason. The audience understands that Ouimet is an American, and an amateur, and not a member of the social elite. So what? Vardon and Ray have similar backgrounds. Both were poor kids from Jersey (in the English Channel) and both had to overcome social and economic boundaries in order to become two of the best professionals in the world. So why not root for them?

Herein lies the film’s biggest problem – there is no reason to root for Ouimet and no reason not to. The game takes a back seat to the issues and injustices of the day and how the main characters deal with them. This is not a movie about a golf match, it’s a movie about early 20th century society.

In order to make up for the film’s lack of excitement, Paxton infuses the golf scenes with a ton of overblown special effects, camera tricks, annoyingly quick edits and lame jokes by Ouimet’s ten-year-old caddy, Eddie Lowery (Josh Flitter). Paxton’s direction during the golf scenes attempt to make the quiet pastoral game look like a cross between NFL films and an Aphex Twin music video. This is golf, not football and definitely not acid and techno influenced electronica.

This film’s golf scenes rely entirely on Paxton’s direction and pacing, which are both poor. In his attempt to make golf look sleek and stylized, he turned it into overbearing and gaudy. There are unnecessary special effects and ridiculous edits. This movie seems to be in love with its self.

To Paxton and Frost’s credit, this film is relatively loyal to historical happening and the film does look gorgeous. That still does not save it from the terrible direction and boring story. This film could have been a lot better than it ended up being. It’s flat, predictable, and too engrossed with talking about the social structure of the time to keep anyone interested.

With all that being said, it is still a good family movie, especially for anyone interested in getting their son or daughter into golf. The story is easy enough for children to understand and the quirkiness of Lowery will keep kids entertained and laughing (after all, it is produced by Disney.) Unfortunately, for anyone who knows of Ouimet’s story or cares about golf, this film will be highly disappointing, and in some instances extremely annoying.

That is a terrible shame considering what this game meant for golf and for sports in the 20th century.